Nvidia and AMD to stay with TSMC

With Qualcomm deciding to look elsewhere for 28nm production it seems AMD and Nvidia will not take the same decision. Qualcomm left TSMC after it felt TSMC could not keep up with 28nm SnapDragon S4 chip production. Yet Nvidia and AMD won’t be doing the same according to industry sources. There are a whole number of reasons why AMD and Nvidia will be sticking with TSMC for 28nm production. Given the complexity of AMD and Nvidia chips it is important that they use a foundry with a mature 28nm process and high enough yield rates, so for them TSMC seems like a sensible choice.

“TSMC has the upper hand over Samsung in 28nm technology, yield rate and price and therefore changing foundry partnership involves high risks, the sources said. In addition, Nvidia is expected to consider Samsung’s ARM-based processors in competition with its Tegra 3 processors.”

TSMC and AMD cooperated with each other in the 28nm Southern Islands graphics chips currently on the market as the HD 7000 series. AMD is also working with TSMC over the 28nm production of the Sea Islands architecture expected to hit the market as the HD 8000 series, production should begin in Autumn this year. AMD is also expected to adopt TSMC’s 28nm Bulk CMOS technology in 2013, which helps to further confirm that TSMC will hold onto other contracts despite losing Qualcomm.